Final Reign Part I: Der Wille zur Macht R
by ZuttoAragi
Summary: During an excavation on a lake in Reach, Halsey and a group of workers unearth a large, unknown object. As a result, a mysterious organization called Ormus launches an attack on the UNSC colony. From there David, a skilled UNSC mobile suit pilot, along with several teammates get embroiled in a galaxy-wide conspiracy that threatens to rip apart the fabric of reality.


**Chapter I**

 **Greetings all! I have come to you with another in my series of rebooted stories. This time it is Final Reign. I know the previous one was a little... confusing. Well the new plot set up will clean things up significantly and stop it from being as much of a headache as previously. That said, it is still mostly a crossover of Halo and Xenosaga, though with a few other series added in as well. The main character this time around is going to be Agent Washington, AKA David, from Red VS Blue. So this will be an interesting one. Anyway, let me know what you think of this reboot with a review. But with that out of the way, on with the show!**

* * *

The year is 2551 A.D. Earth has expanded out beyond the Sol system to colonize planets far beyond its borders. Expanding across the galaxy has given rise to many a new advancement as well as two planets which have become both the most famous and the most infamous within the Earth colonies. Those planets are Reach and Harvest.

Reach for being the base of operations for the clandestine Spartan program, based around abducting, indoctrinating, and cybernetically augmenting children into fearsome super soldiers.

Harvest for being the start and main battle ground for humanity's current war. A war with a conglomeration of multiple extraterrestrial races hell-bent on humanity's total eradication. The military refers to this enemy as the Covenant.

The main fighting force for Earth and its colonies is the United Nations Space Command, or UNSC.

Aside from the Spartans the UNSC has also developed another form of weaponry for use in combatting the Covenant threat. Massive, six-story tall combat machines known simply as mobile suits. The two most common among the Earth forces are the fast and agile, yet lightly armored Gelgoog and slightly slower but heavily armed Gespenst.

* * *

Among the many great discoveries humanity had made during its time in the galactic circle, one of those was on the planet of Reach, where a scientific excavation team was exploring a series of ruins on the shore of a large lake.

Among the team was Dr. Catherine Halsey, head of the Spartan program and senior researcher on a field of study concerning an ancient race of nonhumans that live one hundred thousand years ago called Forerunners.

The Forerunners seemed to simply vanish from the galactic record at that point in time, leaving behind many artifacts. Although some scientists had discovered evidence of both civilizations coming before and after the Forerunners on the galactic scale.

The ruins the team was exploring at the time centered around one object that a colleague of Halsey's discovered on another dig on Harvest. It was a small metal plate the size of a human hand that was shaped like a rectangle with small trapezoidal bumps near the top and an unknown symbol in the middle.

Along with the object Halsey had discovered a legend on an object referred to by Forerunners as "Zohar".

She eventually discerned the location of the temple associated with the plate and the Zohar to be on the edge of a massive lake near Reach's equator that had Forerunner energy signals emanating from it.

* * *

Halsey was going over her notes when one of the diggers came into her tent.

"Dr. Halsey!" he said.

Halsey glared at him. "Can't you see I'm busy? This had better be important."

Wincing from her tone the digger pushed on. "I think we've found it."

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Show me."

He nodded and led her out of the tent.

Before leaving she turned to one of the soldiers and ordered, "Get John."

The soldier nodded and ran off to find them.

* * *

Halsey and the digger arrived at a small metal pedestal in the ground on the edge of the lake. She walked over to it, pushing several civilians out of the way and then knelt down and pushed some of the dirt away and examined it.

Almost immediately, a Spartan came to her side who was more than two meters tall and wore sage green Spartan II armor with a Mark V helmet, Mark V shoulders and EOD chest plate. He had an MA5D assault rifle on his back and an M6C pistol on his hip. On the left side of his chest a white '117' was printed.

Halsey turned to the group, then the Spartan. "This is it."

The Spartan nodded and said with an even tone, "When you're ready."

She nodded and stuck out her hand. "John, if you would."

John flinched, then a panel on his right thigh opened and the small silver metal panel slid out. He pulled it out and handed it to Halsey, who grabbed it roughly.

She placed the plate onto the pedestal and waited. After a moment, the plate lit up with an eerie green light that then spread to the pedestal, and began to snake out in a circuit-like pattern. The circuits then moved out into the water and disappeared under the surface.

There was an uneasy silence for several seconds before the entire area began to shake wildly.

"An earthquake?" John asked in confusion.

"That's not possible, we're in the center of the tectonic plate," Halsey answered calmly before she stumbled back, John stopping her fall.

* * *

Under the lake's surface, the ground was bursting apart and sand and rubble were spread within the water as massive black chunks of metal rose in large pillars.

* * *

Back above the water, the black pillars broke the surface, combining and forming a long runway that ended in the middle of the lake. At that spot, more pillars rose forming thin ramps in a circle. Beams of light shot from several of the ramps, eventually forming an outline similar to the metal plate, but much thicker.

The space within that outline began to glow a bright multicolored light. As the light increased the onlookers were forced to shield their eyes before the light died down; revealing a large golden obelisk similar to the panel but instead of what appeared to be a jewel in the middle was the Hebrew symbol for four.

Halsey looked at the object in awe. "Collect it."

A nearby soldier saluted. "Yes ma'am."

* * *

Elsewhere, in a darkened control room with a large holographic screen in the middle of the room a soldier walked up to a figure in front of the screen and said, "Commander, we have confirmation of the Zohar signal."

The figure in front of the screen turned and asked, "Where?"

"That's the strange part, sir. It is outside the Federation's plotted space," the soldier said with mild confusion.

The figure put a hand to its chin in thought. "It matters not. Send the Marunda, Senruma, and the Rentama to the location. If they encounter resistance permit use of A.M.W.S units."

The soldier saluted. "Yes, Commander Margulis!"

* * *

Back on Reach, multiple Gelgoogs were moving towards the object, preparing to take it.

Halsey noticed John walking on the walkway and asked, "So, what do you think of it?"

John turned and asked, "What do you mean, ma'am?"

"I'm curious, what do you think of the object, what do you think it can do?"

John simply shrugged. "Don't know. I've never seen anything like this. Even the Covies haven't got anything like this."

Halsey chuckled in mild amusement. "True. But this seems to even surpass Forerunner technology… what's that?" She noticed a soldier approaching. "Hey! Get away from there! John, we don't know what will happen if a human contacts that thing."

John nodded and took off, running towards the object and the soldier, activating his armor's speed enhancement and dashing in a blur.

The soldier reached out and contacted the object. His hand immediately became glued and light emitted from the object as he felt himself being absorbed into it.

John grabbed the man and threw him off, but the man got his arm removed as a result. John then froze and blue energy flowed from the object to him and enveloped his body. After a moment, his body was thrown away, unconscious.

"Dammit. Get him to the infirmary," Halsey ordered and several soldiers walked over and grabbed John's still form and took him to the dig site's infirmary.

After that the mobile suits caged the device and took it to a holding area.

* * *

Halsey was in her onsite office studying different scans of the object when a man with dark skin, black hair, brown eyes, and wearing a sergeant's hat along with normal ODST armor walked in and saluted. "Ma'am, the mobile suits have collected the giant piece-o-bling and have hidden it from pryin' eyes."

Halsey nodded. "Good work. Now Sergeant Johnson, how is John's condition?"

Johnson chuckled. "D'aww, you're worried about your little science experiment."

Halsey narrowed her eyes and said, "I am merely monitoring my investments. The Spartan Project is my life's work so, yes, I am concerned."

Johnson put his hands up defensively. "Don't worry, he's fine. He's takin' a li'l nap in the infirmary. Doc says he'll be up and at'em in a few minutes. You can grill him after that."

Halsey nodded. "Good. How about the soldier that contacted the object?"

"He's fine. They managed to stop the bleedin' and sealed the wound."

"That's not what I meant. What were the effects on his flesh and tissue?" Halsey answered with a sigh.

Johnson shrugged. "It was like it was never even there. The cut was the kinda clean you can't even get with a laser, the medical kind mind you."

"Right. Tell the chief medical officer to the send the report to me. I'm going to check on John."

Johnson nodded and saluted. "Right, ma'am. I'm gonna make sure none of the others are doin' anything as stupid."

She nodded and left her tent for the infirmary.

* * *

When she arrived, she found John out of his armor and sitting on one of the medical benches, shaking his head.

Halsey walked towards him but stopped when he looked at her. ' _That's strange. Spartans have blue eyes, not purple._ ' She grabbed a mirror and handed it to him. "What color are your eyes?"

John raised an eyebrow at the odd question. "Blue like every… one… else…" He trailed off as he looked in the mirror and saw the change. "Did that thing do it?"

Halsey shrugged and replied, "No way to tell. Stand up. I'm going to do a cursory scan of your vitals and look for any biological anomalies."

He nodded and did as requested.

She activated the medical scanner, causing the robotic arm to extend down and began to rotate around him, scanning his body as it did.

Once the results displayed on the screen her eyes widened. "John, look at this."

He walked over and narrowed his eyes curiously.

The screen displayed a scan of his body and showed a shadowed region which displayed multiple fiber-like objects snaking around his body and connecting to nearly every inch of his body.

"John, do your earlier reports show anything like this?"

He shook his head in confusion. "Not that I'm aware."

She nodded and then noticed the information displayed about these fibers. The information said that an unknown energy signature was detected within the darkened areas. She put a hand to her chin in thought. "John, I suggest you stay out of combat for a little while. Whatever this mystery energy is, it could cause problems with battle."

He nodded in understanding. "Gives me more time to drink."

She simply rolled her eyes and said with slight humor, "You are quite possibly the strangest Spartan I've ever met."

He planned a response but she left before he could. He just shrugged and walked over to the nearby kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge, cracking it open with a satisfying pop.

* * *

In Reach's orbit, in the orbital command center Anchor 9, the screens were displaying many different types of information as the crew monitored them.

The commander of Reach's armed forces, colonel Urban Holland, stood inside the command center's war room when he was approached by a soldier who saluted and said, "Sir, we've detected strange alterations in the energy patterns around Reach's orbit."

Holland nodded and asked, "Anything dangerous?"

"Unknown at this time, sir. Although the disturbances seem to be growing quickly. Should I send a team to investigate?"

Thinking for a moment Holland nodded. "Yes. Send the team under David Xiao Long to investigate. Tell him that if he sees something so much as wink at him to make sure it stops doing so."

The man saluted firmly. "Yes, sir!"

* * *

Inside one of the crew's quarters on Anchor 9, a young man with unkempt blonde hair with black streaks and violet eyes sat in his bunk looking at a picture. The picture displayed three people in it. Although one, a man clad in green clothes, had his face scratched out. The other was a young woman with long blonde hair, with bangs framing her face and coming just above her eyes with a small tuft of hair sticking upwards. The last was himself.

Looking at the image the man smiled nostalgically before a knock at the door got his attention. He looked to the other man in the doorway who said, "Yo, David. Time to sortie. Command's just spotted some kind of spatial distortion, whatever the hell that means. They want us to go make sure it's nothin' that'll shoot at us."

David nodded and sat up before saying, "Right. I'll be there in a bit."

His comrade gave a thumbs up and left.

David stuck the picture to the wall of his bed and said, "Wish me luck, Mom, Dad. Something tells me I'll need it."

* * *

Soon a group of six men in ODST full uniforms including helmets entered Anchor 9's hangar where a group of six mobile suits were docked.

Three were Gelgoogs while the others were Hizacks.

David moved to his own Gelgoog and opened the hatch. After the hatch opened the drop pod inside functioning as the cockpit and escaped pod opened as well and he slipped inside, closing the pod whose windows were replaced with screens linked up to the suit's sensors.

What differentiated David's Gelgoog from the other suits was the short horn on its head, denoting his identity as team leader. The mobile suits switched on with a hum, their pink mechanical mono-eyes lighting up.

David's Gelgoog walked forward slowly and David spoke over the comm. "Give me basic Grade-B equipment."

"You got it master sergeant," a voice responded as a pointed, oval shield with a viewport was attached to his Gelgoog's back along with two mobile suit-sized assault rifles. A curved black sword was attached to his suit's left hip.

"Would you like to check the equipment and the suit's capabilities one more time before heading out?"

Inside his suit David flipped several switches. "No thanks, I fine-tuned this puppy myself. I know it's in top shape."

"As you wish master sergeant. Your team is prepared for launching, just move to the catapult and you're ready to go."

"Roger that," David responded as he moved his Gelgoog into position, its feet being locked onto metal panels that were situated along a long track leading outside the station. Flipping two more switches and depressing the foot pedals David announced, "David Xiaolong, Gelgoog. Launching!"

The catapult for his suit and several others sprung to life and shot four of the suits forward and out of the station.

* * *

At the edge of the airspace monitored by Reach, ripples appeared in the area before three dark blue rings of energy formed before expanding outward with a large black space in the middle.

Soon several ships slowly traversed out of the rings. The ships were long, thin tubular vessels that had several areas that spun slowly in different directions with long thin panels that extended outward with blinking lights on the end of each. As the ships exited the rings, they shrunk and disappeared.

* * *

Aboard one of the ships, a man dressed in a red and black military uniform walked forward before looking over images of Reach. "Interesting. Despite being outside the bounds of Federation space there seems to be intelligent life on this planet. Though how it came into possession of one of the Zohars is beyond me."

Two men then walked up to him.

One was a tall man with shoulder-length, messy black hair, red eyes, wearing an elaborate uniform of black and red with flame motifs.

The other was a slightly shorter man with long black hair with grey accents purple eyes wearing a red pinstripe suit with a purple and black boa around his shoulders.

The captain of the ship turned to them swiftly. "Ahh, Gaius, Rideaux. Nice to see you've arrived. I'm certain we'll run into interference on this world, though from humans or Gnosis I do not know, nor do I truly wish to. Either way this will be a good chance for the two of you to test out those AMWS of yours we worked so hard to make."

Gaius nodded in return. "Indeed. If they turn hostile."

The two men then saluted and said, "Yes sir," in unison before turning around and leaving.

The captain smirked as they walked away and a soldier reported, "Sir, we have confirmed AMWS presence."

"How many?" he asked.

"A section sir," the man responded.

The captain nodded. "Tell Gaius and Rideaux to prepare the Unicorn and Wing Zero. Oh, and tell them they are permitted to go as overboard as they please. We need as much combat data from those AMWS as possible."

"Yes sir!" the soldier responded swiftly.

* * *

David's team neared the area of disturbance when David noticed the three ships and said, "Colonel, we have visual on three unknown spacecraft."

"Are they Covenant?" Holland asked.

"Unknown sir, all I know is they aren't ours," David responded. "And I think they've spotted us."

Holland thought quietly for a moment. "Don't do anything hasty. Hide among the asteroids and wait for them to make a move. If these guys aren't Covenant then we want to give as good an opportunity as possible to build a somewhat positive introduction with them."

"Yes sir," David said quickly as his suit motioned the others to hide among the debris.

* * *

The three large ships moved forward slowly as a deckhand spoke to the captain. "Sir, those AMWS have disappeared off our sensors."

The captain nodded in response. "I see. Tell Gaius and Rideaux to hold back for the moment, but send Rideaux to the Marunda to take command of the defensive forces."

"Yes sir!" the soldier responded swiftly.

* * *

Rideaux sat in his mech's, the Wing Zero, cockpit waiting for orders when a screen popped up.

"Lieutenant. The captain wants you take over defensive maneuvers on the Marunda."

Rideaux popped his neck as his mech stood up. "Great, more work. Why couldn't they have sent you?"

Gaius flipped several switches in his cockpit as he responded. "Because, the Wing Zero is faster than the Unicorn. It makes sense for them to send you instead of me. Besides, you need more combat experience than I do."

Rideaux huffed as he left. "Yeah, screw you too." His AMWS then took off out of the launch pad in the ship.

* * *

"Master sergeant, one of the enemy ships has launched a suit. It seems to be merely going from ship to ship however. How do you want to proceed?" one of David's teammates reported.

David thought for a moment. "Nothing for now. Keep your eye on them but don't move to engage. With ships that large, it's likely they can carry a lot more suits than our frigates. Let's not do anything hasty yet. After all, if I'm gonna go up in smoke I wanna make sure I know what's shootin' me first."

Another pilot then asked, "So, what're we gonna do if they start shootin'?"

David chuckled and leaned back in his seat. "Simple… we blow 'em to hell."

* * *

On the command ship, the captain looked around and asked, "Have those unknown AMWS moved yet?"

"No, sir captain Regalia," a soldier responded.

Regalia nodded in reply. "I see. Send out a flight of AMWS from each ship and have them keep a watch on our enemies' movements. Fire on sight."

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

"Uh-oh, the hive's buzzin'," one of David's squad mates reported.

"Shit. Alright then ladies, let's get our smoke bombs ready. And plant some explosives on the surrounding asteroids."

"Yes sir!" they responded in unison.

The six suits flew out of their hiding positions and David began giving out orders.

"Armand, set up a sniper's nest on that asteroid, Raleigh, give'im cover."

"Yes sir/Got it!" they responded in unison as Armand's Hizack landed and set up its mobile suit sized 99-S5 sniper rifle on its shield, Raleigh's Hizack equipping its shotgun for combat.

The four remaining suits moved out in a wide formation and David ordered, "Alright, Adeline, Konrad, go left and see what you can do about our friends there. Maitland, you go with me and see what we can do to the command ship."

"Got it," Adeline and Konrad both responded from their Gelgoog and Hizack respectively.

"I think that's a little risky, it leaves the third ship open to attack us from behind," Maitland called from his Gelgoog.

David just chuckled. "I thought of that, why do you think I wanted these rocks seeded with bombs? Plus, it's more fun this way. If you don't think you can handle it I can have Raleigh come with me instead."

Maitland remained silent for a moment. "No, I'll do this. You're a crazy son of a bitch, ya know that?"

"I blame my family," he retorted before pushing one of the nearby asteroids away, causing it to float towards the third ship. "Now let's go."

* * *

Adeline and Konrad approached the first ship as the enemy AMWS took notice of them.

Among the enemy units were a green AMWS with a soldier like appearance and a solid blue dome on its face as well as a ring around it with a rifle in its right hand.

The other among the enemies was an orange unit with a folding shield and a long rifle on its right arm. It also had a dome on its face, but its was gold with a crossbar over it.

* * *

"Sir, Stole and Cera groups have confirmed enemy contact," a soldier on the bridge of the Marunda reported.

The captain nodded and said, "Engage hostiles. We will then proceed to the planet and take the Emulator."

"Yes sir!"

* * *

The first group of AMWS, six composed of two Ceras and four Stoles charged the incoming suits.

Adeline fired a series of shots from her assault rifle and managed to strike a Cera in the leg.

Another Cera fired several shots from a rotating sniper cannon on its shoulder that Adeline blocked with her shield before boosting to the side and firing more shots as she did.

The Cera spun to the side to avoid being hit but was grazed several times and dashed towards Adeline before boosting upwards as a Stole came from below with a long blade in its hand.

"Damn! I don't have a –!" she paused in a grunt as Konrad pushed her Gelgoog aside and used his heat waraxe to block the Stole.

He looked behind him and gaped. "Aawww, damn." Two more Stoles came with shoulder mounted, triangular missile pods that fired multiple, sparking sidewinders. Cursing again he kicked the Stole that was at him away and fired flares at the rockets.

One of the Stoles exploded as a sniper shot from Armand hit its torso and caused its generator to go off.

* * *

Near the command ship, Maitland and David neared the group of defending AMWS, all Stoles, and David shouted, "Alright, let's have a party!" His suit suddenly equipped two assault rifles, one in each hand, as he began to acrobatically fly through the airspace firing at the Stoles.

The enemies barely had time to react before one Stole was riddled with bullets and exploded. The others looked at his dust for a moment before more shots from David got their attention.

Two of the Stoles charged at David while Maitland charged at the remaining three and mumbled, "Why do I always get stuck with the most enemies?"

David ducked and weaved through enemy fire with a big smirk. "Don't know, probably my Xiao-Long luck, or maybe that big head of yours has a gravitational field." He then spun as a Stole tried to stab him and then quickly spun around and filled it with bullets and destroyed. David then flexed his neck and taunted, "Or maybe it's just that I'm such a badass they figure they've got a fighting chance with you."

Maitland grunted as his shield parried a Stole's blade before shoving his own through its midsection and kicked it away. He then brought up his shield again and spun around while dodging sniper shots from a Stole. "Oh gee, thanks. You're a real asshat you know?"

The sniper exploded as David fired at it before the ravenette said, "Yeah, but at least I haven't gotten my ass kicked so many times in the sims that I'm wearing it as a hat."

"Che, that's only because you're a damn Spartan in all but name jackass," Maitland shot back before ducking under a Stole and slicing it in half.

* * *

Inside the command ship, Gaius looked at his cockpit lights as he got a launch signal. "It seems the enemy is beyond what they expected. Best move to assist." The single visor eye of his Unicorn AMWS lit up. "Gaius, Unicorn Gundam. Launching." The Unicorn then launched out of the catapult towards the two pilots.

* * *

"Damn, they got one of ours!" a Cera pilot shouted. He turned and saw Konrad locked in blade combat with one of his allies and attempted to go in for backup.

"Sorry pal, not today," Adeline said sarcastically as she flew directly below its torso and fired her shotgun.

The spread of shots hit its generator and caused it to detonate.

"Damn you!" the pilot of the rocket Stole shouted before firing several rockets at Adeline.

She scoffed and said, "Please, something as slow as sidewinders are nothing compared to my Gelgoog." Using its shoulder boosters she quickly zipped around the missiles, causing them to turn around in an attempt to chase her, but several collided and exploded, the chain reaction destroying the rest.

Adeline flew forward firing her assault rifle at the Stole.

The pilot cursed and dashed upwards, firing with his rifle at her.

Adeline swerved through the shots easily and managed to line up a shot for her underslung grenade launcher, the grenade lobbing straight at the Stole's head, which also happened to be its cockpit, disabling the unit and killing the pilot.

* * *

Inside the Marunda, Rideaux sat in his Wing Zero. "How annoying. These fools can't even handle so few flies."

* * *

Konrad ducked behind an errant asteroid with the damaged Cera and a Stole on his tail.

The two units flanked the space rock in an attempt to get him but saw he was gone moments too late and hit each other, destroying their AMWS.

The one remaining Stole pilot cursed and said, "Crap, shouldn't the DC be here?"

"Out of my way you fools, or you'll die in the crossfire," Rideaux demanded as his mech soared out from within the Marunda.

Konrad turned and asked in surprise, "What the hell is that thing?"

Adeline began firing and said, "Doesn't matter, it's not on our side."

Konrad turned to Adeline and said with a shrug, "Whatever you say boss lady. Hey Armand, think you can hit the birdy?"

* * *

At his perch, Armand snickered and said, "I'm a badass at skeet shooting. So something even bigger should be a cinch to hit. Even if it is one weird ass suit."

* * *

Rideaux flew over to the two UNSC pilots in a flanking arc as they attempted to hit him.

Adeline managed to line up a shot and fire, but Rideaux barrel rolled out of the way too swiftly and fire a shot from his Wing Zero's side mounted buster rifles.

"Damn!" Adeline cursed as the large blasts of amber energy sheared off her Gelgoog's arms.

"You'll pay for that, jackass!" Konrad shouted as he pulled out his suit's M739 SAW and began pelting shots at Rideaux.

Rideaux cackled as he AMWS swerved and weaved through Konrad's hail of bullets. "As if you fools could ever touch me!" One shot managed to graze the Wing Zero's left wing pod.

* * *

Armand reloaded after emptying another clip as Raleigh said, "Damn, those guys are cleaning house. Either we're really good or these guys really suck."

Armand fired a shot from his and watched as another Cera that attempted to go from one ship to another detonated. "I'd say we're just that good. After all, we aren't the Gargoyle Squadron for nothing."

Raleigh then turned to Armand in confusion. "Yeah, speaking of. If we're supposed to be a 'squadron' how come Randall, Montgomery and Alf never come with us on these merry jaunts?"

Armand turned to Raleigh then back to the fight as he fired another shot. "Simple, David only wants the best for stuff like this. He takes the others when he's tasked with something simple like cargo transport, or a do-nothing mission like that. But in a true combat scenario like this one he'd rather have," he paused with another shot and then continued, "the best on his side. In fact, you should feel honored. The fact that Master Sergeant Xiao-Long always brings along your sorry ass means he trusts you to watch my back."

"Man, fuck you. I've been watching your ass since we were kids. If it weren't for me that blockhead in fourth grade woulda pounded your head into the pavement," Raleigh responded irked.

Armand chuckled lightly. "Yeah, whatever you say, Little Bro. Just try not to get in my crosshairs. It's sometimes hard to tell between a rock and that overgrown meat pie you call a head."

"If it weren't for the fact I had keep the enemies of yer sorry ass I'd just ditch you here and now." Raleigh then turned quickly and fired his shotgun at a Cera that attempted to sneak up behind them. "Like that one."

* * *

David turned to watch the Unicorn come out of the lead ship. "Whoa, whoa, Maitland what the hell is that thing?"

"More than likely trouble," Maitland turned to look but a solid beam of pink energy sliced off his Gelgoog's head.

"Maitland!" David shouted.

"Shit, main camera's gone. I gotta call it quits, I can't fight if I can't see," Maitland said as he took off.

David sighed in frustration. "You do that. No need to get killed. Me and whitey have some talkin' to do."

Gaius merely huffed. "Is that meant to be an insult of some kind."

"Um… yes?"

"What a fool."

"Che, screw you too a-hole," David retorted before firing his assault rifles off again.

Gaius easily spun and weaved through the strikes, taking his time merely dodging around before dashing up right when David used up his magazines.

"Aww damn… Raleigh I'ma need some help here!" David shouted as the Unicorn dive-bombed him at incredible speed, David barely managing to dodge its beam saber. His Gelgoog made contact with a nearby asteroid and rolled into a crouching position before he turned around to watch the Unicorn land behind him in a conceited manner with its arms folded, its left arm overtop with the shield.

"Ah fucking hell…" David laughed as he stood up. "What, you so superior you don't even need to keep your guard up?"

Gaius then responded flatly, "Yes."

David sighed with insult. "Ooohhh, I'm going to have a hoot kicking some humility into your ass."

"If you retreat now, I won't have to kill you," Gaius remarked plainly.

"Sorry, your forces are nearing one of our planets. Besides, you're standing on a bomb right now."

"I see. Then you leave me no choice."

"Anyone ever tell you you talk too much?" David retorted snidely as he rushed forward in a weaving pattern, firing as he did.

Gaius stood still for several seconds before raising his shield and charging forward, most of David's rounds bouncing off.

"Crap!" David shouted as he barely managed to equip and raise his own shield as Gaius approached, the two becoming locked with their shields grinding. David groaned and said, "You're a tough bastard, you know that?"

"I have to be." Gaius then turned his head to the side and pushed away from David, causing the former to stumble forward as a sniper round flew over his head.

David stood up, looked at the rifle round, then in the direction it came from and said, "Watch where yer shootin' jackass!"

* * *

Armand sighed with annoyance. "I swear that bastard can read my moves."

Raleigh tilted his head in confusion. "Um, how? You yourself can barely see him through your sniper scope."

Armand sighed heavily. "Just take out that enemy behind us."

Raleigh straightened up and turned around, coming face to face with a Cera.

The two stared each other down before Raleigh raised his rifle and fired through its head, killing the pilot.

* * *

Adeline's Hizack slammed into a wall of the Marunda but quickly recovered and rushed back down firing at the speeding fighter with her head mounted Vulcans.

The Wing Zero rushed past her, clipping her leg, Rideaux cackling. "This is fun! You two are so amusing!" His fighter spun on a dime and began firing a hail of beam shots at Konrad.

"Oh come on!" Konrad moaned as he barely managed to dodge the attacks. One blast sheared off his right arm at the elbow, taking his SAW with it. "Dammit!" Konrad shouted as his suit lost its weapon. He pulled out a shotgun and attempted to hit the speeding fighter. He found this to be fruitless however as it was simply too fast and agile.

"Too slow, fools! Come on! You two were so entertaining a moment ago! What happened!? Is it because I so easily broke your toys!?"

Konrad sneered. "Screw you!" He then fired another shot that pierced one of the Wing Zero's wings.

Rideaux smirked madly. "Just for that, I'll give you a special surprise." He pressed a button on his holographic control panel and his fighter stopped dead, the front red portion with the buster rifles attached to detaching from the rest. The rear half of the fighter extended out and straightened into legs, a pair of arms extended out from the middle, shoulder armor folding into place as hands formed, the wings folded back and collapsed as a head appeared on the front of the fighter before it stood up straight and clasped the shield onto its left arm. It removed the buster rifles from the shield and equipped one in each hand. Rideaux then shouted, "Meet the Wing Gundam Zero and fear me!"

Konrad groaned heavily. "Ohhh, this ain't gon' be good."

Adeline sneered. "How about less jokes and more shooting."

"I've got a shotgun and one arm and you've got no arms, how the hell're we supposed to fight this thing?"

Armand then said over the comm, "Listen you two, I don't quite have a clear shot on Mister Change-O. If you can get him into the open I might be able to get a few potshots."

Konrad and Adeline looked at each other and then said with a shrug, "Better than nothin'." They then instantly turned and sped away.

Rideaux moaned and shouted, "Get back here! I'm not finished with you!" He then fired off the boosters in his back and legs and chased after the duo.

"Okay, I can almost see him."

* * *

David and Gaius stood still, staring each other down before David charged, firing a barrage of shots at Gaius.

The dark-haired man merely raised his shield lazily to block the shots and then blasted from his position and smashed his foot into the head of David's Gelgoog, before adding more power and sending the man flying. He then turned and began walking away.

"Dammit," David said as he smashed his hand into his console. He then looked around at his static filled monitor and said, "Who the hell is that guy?" Seeing no result, David leapt up and aimed his rifle at the asteroid. "Have fun with oblivion you bastard!"

Gaius widened his eyes before the explosives on the asteroid detonated, filling the space with flames.

* * *

Back on Reach, John sat in the bar, downing his favorite whiskey, when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

He turned and saw Halsey standing behind him.

The woman sighed with a shake of her head and said exasperated, "If you weren't a Spartan that'd kill you."

John looked at the bottle in his hand and then shrugged and said, "Tastes good. Too bad I can't get the good feelin'."

Halsey rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Whatever. Unfortunately, your little pity party needs to be cut short. We've got some MS pilots up in orbit getting their asses kicked. You need to go and give them a hand. They're fighting UEs and need backup. I assume you aren't adverse to that?"

John shook his head. "Not at all." He raised his hand and flexed it in thought. "Plus, I'm interested in what changes that thing caused."

Halsey smirked and added, "Then go do it."

* * *

John walked into the hangar wearing his Spartan armor and walked up to a specific mobile suit. A suit similar to David's, a Gelgoog that was instead several shades of red instead of green.

Stepping up to it, a technical assistant saluted. "She's all ready to go, sir."

John nodded as he donned his helmet. "Good. I'll need it in top condition. Give me my usual equipment."

The technician saluted. "Yes sir!"

* * *

On the exterior of the UNSC base, the mobile suit catapult opened and John's Gelgoog launched out and headed for orbit.

Inside the cockpit, John flipped several switches and the suit suddenly vanished in a burst of speed.

* * *

Rideaux cackled as he continued to chase Konrad and Adeline. He fired another shot that grazed Konrad's Hizack.

Konrad snarled. "Dammit Raleigh! Take this bastard out!"

"I know, I know!" Raleigh retorted over the comm.

The Wing Zero flew past Konrad and Adeline and transformed, then aimed at Konrad and Adeline. "Die!"

"SHIIIT!" Konrad shouted, right as the Wing Zero's head exploded.

"What the fuck!? Who dares!?" Rideaux shouted and attempted to look around. "Shit, I can't fight if I can't see… you fuckers are lucky this time! But next time, you're dead!" He then returned to his flight mode and took off back to the ship.

Adeline panted heavily with exhaustion. "… Damn… I thought we'd run out of energy first…" She looked down at her fuel gauge and sighed in disbelief as it blinked to indicate low amounts of energy remaining.

"Damn right," Konrad growled in annoyance.

"Let's get back to base…"

* * *

Armand loaded a new magazine and then looked to the side. "What the hell's that?"

He watched as John's Gelgoog burst into existence nearby.

He noticed the insignia of the Spartan program on the Mobile Suit's shoulder. "Oh shit. One of them."

John looked around and then saw David stuck in a battle with Gaius' Unicorn Gundam. "Guess that's the enemy." He turned and boosted towards the two.

* * *

"Gaahh!" David shouted as he raised his shield to block Gaius' beam saber. "Dammit! I thought the blast had you!"

"No such luck," Gaius retorted.

"Screw you!" David shouted before pushing Gaius away. He then looked down and saw the shallow gash in his shield. "Well… that'll make things difficult. Ah, fuck it. Mom would never let me live it down if I bitch about this."

Gaius scoffed and boosted to the side and fired several shots.

David raised his shield and boosted backwards and to the side, narrowly dodging the shots.

Gaius narrowed his eyes and fired a shot, then aimed slightly to the side and fired another shot.

The shot perfectly hit the center of David's shield, aggravating the slash and splitting it down the middle. "Dammit!" David shouted as he pulled out his rifles and began firing at Gaius after throwing an EMP grenade.

Gaius frowned and shot the grenade out of the air. "I will not fall for an emp."

"Emp? Emp!? It's EMP asshole!"

The man easily dodged around the shots and attempted to approach David but was forced to stop and back up as an energy blast nearly hit his suit from above.

He and David looked up as John landed softly on the asteroid, an oversized M6 Grindell Nonlinear Rifle in his hands. Although most knew it as the Spartan Laser.

David approached beside him, annoyed. "What are _you_ doing here? I could've handled this asshole myself."

"Right, because your little game of tug of war was looking so well done," John responded dryly.

"It was. I have more than enough traps set up for war."

Gaius narrowed his eyes and raised his rifle. "I see your army has every color of the rainbow."

"Yeah, yeah, big talk from a guy with a horn on his head," David shot back.

John turned to David and looked at his Gelgoog's head, then to his own. "We have horns too…"

"Not. Helping." He sighed in exasperation. "Can we just kill him? Because I need to get back to base. Never know when home will call."

Both turned to face Gaius and John said, "I'd be happy to."

The two Gelgoogs then rushed at Gaius, John's slightly faster, before splitting off and flanking the man's white suit.

Gaius huffed and took off to his right, straight towards John.

David turned and shot towards Gaius.

"No! It's a trap!" John shouted.

He was right as Gaius immediately turned around and rushed at David with his beam saber equipped. He made a horizontal slash at the man.

"Dammit!" David cursed as he ducked under Gaius's saber, getting his horn sliced off. He reached up and patted his Gelgoog's head. "Fucking hell. Now I have to reset the number of days I've gone without losing a part! Seriously asshole? Without that I look like just a normal grunt… jerk."

"I told you it was a trap," John remarked.

"If I want the cyborg's help I'd have asked for it."

Gaius groaned exasperatedly. "You're both very annoying. So, leave, or die."

John turned to the white mobile suit and aimed his rifle at him. "Then why don't you come over here and make us stop?"

Gaius smirked slightly. "Confident, aren't we? It will not help you."

Hearing those words, John narrowed his eyes suspiciously and then turned to David. "I'm getting bored, let's end this." He then equipped and activated his dual-bladed beam sword and handed it to David along with his suit's shield. "Here."

David nodded and took both. "Slice and die?"

"Slice and die," John responded as he equipped David's other assault rifle and charged at Gaius, David trailing behind him.

John fired a volley of shots at Gaius, who merely raised his shield to block the shots.

Gaius then raised his own rifle and fired several shots.

John slowed and David boosted around him and used his shield to block them.

Gaius sneered and then boosted forward, he and David locked blades and John vaulted over the two and fired at Gaius.

"Got'cha bitch!" David taunted.

Gaius narrowed his eyes and raised the Unicorn's hands, after which David and John were launched backwards by an invisible force.

"Aaaaaggghhh," David moaned as he stood back up. "What the fuck?"

John grunted as he stood back up, he then looked at the Unicorn and snarled.

It was covered in a pulsating shroud of purple energy that slowly vanished. Gaius sneered, "I'm surprised. I've never had to resort to my Biotics against normal opponents before." He then raised his right arm and fired a blast of purple energy that moved slower than a bullet but nearly reached David.

"Don't let it touch you," John warned.

David dove to the side and watched as the ball of energy collided with an asteroid and seemed to destabilize it, causing it to practically turn into a liquid.

After about a second however the effect seemed to wear off.

"What the hell was that?" David asked rhetorically. "Also, what the hell is Biotics and where'd this bastard learn to use Aura like that?"

"We don't really have time to ask," John rebutted. "Besides, it looks like that weird Semblances the Sorceresses use."

"Aren't those the crazy blue people?" David asked. "Man, I hate those freaky blue girls."

John nodded before charging at Gaius again, dashing side to side with David right behind him.

As they got close John boosted to the side and attempted to circumvent Gaius.

Gaius huffed and dashed forward at John.

John fired bursts at Gaius.

Gaius dashed side to side, focusing on dodging.

David smirked and came up behind Gaius with his sword raised.

However, Gaius immediately slammed his foot into the ground, spun around quickly and slammed his shield into David and sent him flying away.

David groaned as he hit a rock. "Well that could've gone better."

John took the opening. He lunged forward, jumped up, and did a spinning kick that slammed into Gaius's head.

As he attempted to correct his fall, the Unicorn's head was hit by a round.

Gaius blinked in surprise. "Hm… you actually managed to hit me."

* * *

"Wooh!" Raleigh shouted as Armand reloaded. "Can't believe we finally hit that bastard."

"I can't believe it required the help of that damn Spartan to do it," Armand remarked in annoyance. "The commander should have been enough."

* * *

John and David watched in anticipation as the Unicorn lay motionless.

Its hand then twitched before it stood up. John and David each raised an eyebrow as they noticed a chunk of the right side of the Unicorn's head was gone.

"Guess he's got a real headache now," Raleigh said over the comm.

John and David looked at each other, then refocused on Gaius.

"Don't joke, Raleigh," David retorted.

Gaius growled in frustration. "It seems I will have to stop holding back." He then pulled back and lunged forward at high speeds.

"Whoa!" David shouted as he and John dodged to the side.

The two then aimed right at the Unicorn's head and fired.

They stopped and looked at it confused as the bullets seemed to do nothing.

John narrowed his eyes as he noticed a light film of energy wavering over its body. "Shit. That thing's got an energy shield."

The Unicorn immediately turned to John and burst forward, a beam saber in its hand.

"Hey!" David shouted as he tossed John's sword back to him.

John jumped over Gaius, grabbed his sword, spun in midair, and then clashed his sword with Gaius's.

Gaius smirked and said, "Not bad. Let's see how skilled you really are."

He and John pulled apart and clashed blades in a series of strikes, horizontal, vertical, diagonal, and vertical again before pulling back and firing a burst of shots.

Most of the shots cancelled each other out but then John and Gaius charged, as David jumped up from behind with his rifles firing.

Gaius raised his shield and then used the energy again to send David flying away and then ducked under John's strike and then kicked him away. Gaius then raised his hand in the air and several chunks of rock began levitating above him. He then lowered his hand at John and several of the chunks flew at John at high speed.

David growled angrily. "Dammit, this is insane!"

John grit his teeth as they approached. He then raised his shield to block them and suddenly the rocks stopped. John lowered his shield slightly and looked at the rocks. He then noticed in his view screen a reflection of his face, his eyes glowing bright purple. "What the hell?"

Gaius snarled as he watched the rocks stop in front of John. "Well, well, wonder how those bastards got themselves a Biotic." After that he charged at John with dual beam sabers.

John narrowed his eyes and stowed his rifle, splitting his dual sword into two swords and charged at Gaius.

David frowned angrily. "… Did that motherfucker just unlock his Semblance?"

The two then met and clashed in a flurry of slashes and strikes, attempting to slice at each other but each blocking the other's blades.

Gaius shoved one sword into the ground and thrust his hand at John, sending him away with his powers.

John slid to a stop and clenched his fists, he then saw Gaius approaching and reacted, raising his arms at him and tossing him away. He looked at his hands and said, "I'm not sure what's going on, but it'll make kicking your ass easier."

Gaius scoffed and said, "I highly doubt that."

John snarled and retorted, "Aren't we confident?" He reared back his swords and charged. "How about we do something about that!"

Gaius raised his beam rifle and fired several shots, but John flying at top speed was able to evade and get close. However, Gaius pushed him away. He then spun around swiftly and kicked David in the torso, then ducked and slashed upwards at John from behind.

John blocked the strike and flipped backwards and then charged to the side as did Gaius.

The two then flew up and flew at each other and clashed in short bursts, eventually becoming merely lights in the distance slamming into each other.

"Well, never thought I'd see deadly lightning bugs hitting each other," David remarked.

* * *

Armand sighed "Good grief. Hey, master sergeant, suggestions? I can't get an eye on this jackass with how fast those bastards are movin'."

David shrugged. "I dunno, stick your thumb up your ass?"

"…You're a big help."

"I do what I can."

* * *

Gaius and John continued clashing blades until they got locked in a stalemate for several seconds.

"You're damn persistent!" John shouted.

"As are you," Gaius shot back.

The two then shared an expression of confusion before breaking apart.

Gaius narrowed his eyes and prepared to strike again but then got a call over the comm, "Gaius, return! The Federation has dispatched a fleet from Vector. We need to vacate the area before they intercept our course."

Gaius snarled and looked at John. "Seems we will have to see how this ends another day." He then turned and blasted away.

John looked at the spot where the Unicorn was and clenched his fists in anger and then said under his breath, "… That's… not possible."

"Commander, the UEs are leaving the area. It's time to fall back. Also… I hear the brass has a little surprise for you," Halsey said over the comm.

John took a deep breath and then said shakily, "Yes ma'am. John-117, returning." His Gelgoog quickly spun around and shot towards Reach.

* * *

Armand looked as he left and asked, "Are we leaving too?"

"Yeah, let's get out of here before those bastards change their minds," David responded.

"Understood. Raleigh, pack it up," Armand ordered.

Raleigh nodded. "You got it."

The three followed up behind their Spartan comrade.

* * *

Back at Anchor 9, David sighed as he sat on his seat when the device in his pocket, his Scroll, began to ring. "Hello?"

"Hello there, Nephew," an even-toned voice answered.

"Aunt Weiss?"

* * *

 **And fin! Thus concludes the first chapter of Final Reign Part I: Der Wille zur Macht R. Yeah, mouthful of a title but as the story continues it will make sense. So, if you liked it, be sure to let me know what you thought of it with a review! If you were confused, unsure, or had questions about anything leave a review with your queries and I will address them when I can. If your questions are spoiler related, however, then you will have to take a rain check on that and send me a PM instead. If you did not like it, review if you must, but something constructive would be appreciated. Anyway, my spiel is done, so until next time, bye-bye!**


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